The Doctor attempts to gain entry to the castle to prevent the marriage of Romana to Prince Reynart and thwart Grendal’s plans to rule Tara.
Drama
Year 1978
24 min
In the first of a six-story quest, the Doctor is ordered to find the six segments of the Key to Time before the cosmos is plunged into chaos. But it begins badly for the Doctor, due to a megalomaniac, a con man and an icily beautiful, clever new companion.
On a mission to collect the six segments of the Key to Time, the Doctor and Romana travel to the planet Ribos where the first segment is protected by the monstrous Shrivenzale.
Garron is attempting to trick the Graff Vynda-K into buying the planet Ribos, but the jethrik that is vital to his plan is really the first segment of the Key to Time.
Pursued into the catacombs by the Graff and attacked by the ferocious Shrivenzale, the Doctor and Romana struggle to stay alive and find the first segment of the Key to Time.
In search of the second segment of the Key to Time, the Doctor and Romana travel to the planet Calufrax. But they find that a completely different planet has taken its place.
Still in search of the missing planet, Calufrax, the Doctor and Romana encounter the telepathic Mentiads and Zanak’s ruler, the half man, half robot Captain.
The Doctor has discovered the sinister truth about Zanak and solved the mystery of the missing planet. On the Bridge, the Doctor meets the real ruler of Zanak.
The Doctor and Romana track the third segment of the Key to Time to the vicinity of an ancient stone circle on Earth. But sinister forces are at work and the stones hide a secret.
The Doctor releases two alien justice machines from imprisonment who sentenc him to death. Meanwhile Romana urgently searches for clues that will reveal Vivien Fay’s true identity.
Arriving on Tara, Romana locates the fourth segment of the Key to Time with ease, but is captured by the scheming Count Grendel who wants the throne of Tara for himself.
Grendel kidnaps Prince Reynart and seems set to be chosen as Tara’s monarch when Reynart fails to arrive at his coronation. But the Doctor has a plan to scupper the Count’s scheme.
Tracing the fifth segment of the Key to Time to the third moon of Delta Magna, the Doctor and Romana are soon caught up in the conflict between humans and the Swampies.
The Doctor arrives in time to save Romana from being sacrificed to the bogus god, Kroll. But it’s not long before the very real Kroll makes its terrifying appearance.
With Kroll on the rampage, the Doctor and Romana are appalled to discover that Thawn intends to fire a rocket at the creature which will also kill the Swampies.
Looking for the final segment of the Key to Time, the Doctor and Romana arrive on the planet Atrios which is at war with the neighbouring world of Zeos.
The Marshal demands that the Doctor devise the ultimate deterrent against the attacking Zeons. But the Doctor and Romana begin to suspect that the Marshal is being manipulated.
Journeying to Zeos by transmat, the Doctor finds that it is an empty world. As the Marshal prepares to launch his final attack, the Doctor meets the commander of Zeos’s forces.
With the Marshal poised to fire upon Zeos and the Mentalis computer on a countdown to destruction, the Doctor resorts to desperate measures to prevent a cataclysm.
The tragic truth of the sixth segment of the Key to Time is revealed and if the Black Guardian can control the Key, the whole of time and space will be plunged into eternal chaos.
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